Create your own at Storyboard ThatUrbanization happened a lot in the North, meaning people moved from rural areas to the city. These people came for the work in factories that was available in cities. Irish immigrants moved to the United States and worked on constructing or laying out railroad tracks. German immigrants did not work on railroads like the Irish, but instead moved west looking for a new life there. The South makes their money off of cash crops such as tobacco, rice and corn, but the main source of economy was cotton. They worked on large farms called plantations. Slaves were sold at auctions and this sometime split up families. Slaves had no rights at all, and they had laws known as slave codes that controlled every aspect of their lives. Free African Americans were excluded from most mental jobs by law. Children were not even allowed to attend pubic school. They were not able to vote, serve on juries, or testify against whites in court Slavery had ended in the North, but this did not grant equal treatment to them. They were not allowed to vote, work in factories or in skilled trades.